Ran
***** [FIVE STARS – HIGHEST RATING] Critics’ pick. Kurosawa’s magisterial epic demands viewing on the big screen.
-- Time Out New York
Ran
Akira Kurosowa’s final epic masterpiece
Rialto Pictures presents RAN, the 27th film by legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress).
In its epic scale, stylistic grandeur and tragic contemplation of human destiny, RAN (literally, “chaos” or “turmoil”) brings together the great themes and gorgeous images of the director’s life work. A brilliantly conceived meditation on Shakespeare’s King Lear, crossed with Japan’s 16th-century civil wars, it stars the great Tatsuya Nakadai (Kagemusha, High and Low, Yojimbo, Hara Kiri) as Lord Hidetora Ichimonji, an aging ruler who decides to abdicate and divide his land equally among his three sons, unleashing an intense power struggle as his sons and daughters-in-law scheme for power and revenge. A spectacular adventure punctuated by epic battle scenes, RAN was at the time of its release the most expensive film ever made in Japan, with breathtaking color and a visual splendor that remains unparalleled. (Kurosawa devised the entire film in watercolors ten years before production began). Named Best Foreign Film of the Year by the New York Film Critics Circle and Best Film of the Year by the National Society of Film Critics, RAN was also Oscar-nominated for Best Director, Cinematography, and Art Direction, with Emi Wada winning for her dazzling, three-years-in-the-making costumes.
“Spectacular! Among the most thrilling movie experiences a viewer can have!” -The New York Times
“Awe inspiring! Takes its place among the major screen versions of Shakespeare. The battle scenes are horrifying, yet extraordinarily beautiful.” -The Village Voice
“Kurosawa’s late-period masterpiece, transposing King Lear to period Japan, is one of the most exquisite spectacles ever made, a color-coordinated epic tragedy of carnage and betrayal—passionate, somber, and profound.” -New York magazine
Rialto Pictures presents RAN, the 27th film by legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress).
In its epic scale, stylistic grandeur and tragic contemplation of human destiny, RAN (literally, “chaos” or “turmoil”) brings together the great themes and gorgeous images of the director’s life work. A brilliantly conceived meditation on Shakespeare’s King Lear, crossed with Japan’s 16th-century civil wars, it stars the great Tatsuya Nakadai (Kagemusha, High and Low, Yojimbo, Hara Kiri) as Lord Hidetora Ichimonji, an aging ruler who decides to abdicate and divide his land equally among his three sons, unleashing an intense power struggle as his sons and daughters-in-law scheme for power and revenge. A spectacular adventure punctuated by epic battle scenes, RAN was at the time of its release the most expensive film ever made in Japan, with breathtaking color and a visual splendor that remains unparalleled. (Kurosawa devised the entire film in watercolors ten years before production began). Named Best Foreign Film of the Year by the New York Film Critics Circle and Best Film of the Year by the National Society of Film Critics, RAN was also Oscar-nominated for Best Director, Cinematography, and Art Direction, with Emi Wada winning for her dazzling, three-years-in-the-making costumes.
“Spectacular! Among the most thrilling movie experiences a viewer can have!” -The New York Times
“Awe inspiring! Takes its place among the major screen versions of Shakespeare. The battle scenes are horrifying, yet extraordinarily beautiful.” -The Village Voice
“Kurosawa’s late-period masterpiece, transposing King Lear to period Japan, is one of the most exquisite spectacles ever made, a color-coordinated epic tragedy of carnage and betrayal—passionate, somber, and profound.” -New York magazine
Genre
Epic,
Drama,
War,
Auteur Cinema,
Repertory
Runtime
161
Language
Japanese
Director
Akira Kurosawa
Writer(s)
Akira Kurosawa,
Hideo Oguni,
Masato Ide
Cast
Tatsuya Nakadai,
Akira Terao,
Jinpachi Nezu,
Daisuke Ryu,
Mieko Harada,
Yoshiko Miyazaki,
Mansai Nomura,
Hisashi Igawa,
Peter,
Masayuki Yui
Awards:
Nominee, Best Director, Academy Awards
Winner, Best Film Not in the English Language, BAFTA
Winner, Best Foreign Language Film, Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Winner, Best Foreign Film, New York Film Critics Circle
Winner, Best Costume Design, Academy Awards
MOREFEATURED REVIEW
Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune
In case you missed last Sunday, I picked Akira Kurosawa`s epic 'Ran' as the best film to open in Chicago in 1985. It opens today at the Biograph Theater. For some people, such a rousing endorsement of a foreign film with -- ugh! -- subtitles is probably the kiss of the death. (Let's face it, fans of ...
Opening at
Glendale on Jun 6th
Played at
Fine Arts Theatre 3.18.16 - 3.24.16
Playhouse 7 3.30.16 - 3.30.16
Royal 3.30.16 - 3.30.16
NoHo 7 3.30.16 - 3.30.16
Town Center 5 5.23.25 - 5.29.25